US News & World Report
by Katelyn Newman

At the front lines of the opioid crisis, health care providers and hospitals are reconstructing their approaches to treating pain and addiction, from implementing new prescription guidelines and creating personalized systems of care to addressing addiction as a disease rather than a moral failing. "We all had to start this at about the same time," Dr. Halena Gazelka, director of inpatient pain services within Mayo Clinic's pain medicine division, said during a panel discussion this week on hospitals' role in the opioid epidemic during U.S. News' annual Healthcare of Tomorrow conference. "Everybody got concerned about the opioid crisis at about the same time, so there was no pattern, there was no game plan to follow when we've all kind of had to work at it along the way."

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Context: Halena Gazelka, M.D. chairs the Mayo Clinic Enterprise Opioid Stewardship Program and speaks and works nationally on opioid related topics. Much of her research is focused on opioids and their management. She has served on the HHS Pain Management Task Force and currently serves on the Minnesota Opioid Epidemic Response Team.

Contacts: Kelley Luckstein, Heather Carlson Kehren

Tags: Dr. Halena Gazelka, opiods, pain killers, U.S. News & World Report, Uncategorized